Mark

I finally broke down and called them again (my dime...). George had seen my post and emailed Susan to make sure I got what I needed. (GEEZ....just how big is the DEVEK complex that they need to email each other!?!?!?)
STILL NOTHING on my email from them...but hey - they have my $$.
If they don't make this right - I will, in the future, refer to our main suppliers as the "Big Two"...

Mark

STOP THE PRESSES - URGENT UPDATE:

email from Susan:
<<Hey Mark. I found the draft of the instructions that our tech wrote up, but it is not quite in a format that I would send out. George and I will work on revising/completing the instructions and e-mail you ASAP, making every effort to get this to you by the end of the day.

I am going to also send out an adapter bracket that may have been left out of the package...I was sure that everything went with...but it sounds like you might be missing this piece. I will overnight it to you for receipt tomorrow to the same address.

Please call me if you think this does not resolve any issues, and please accept our apologies for the delays.

Susan>>

Fastest928

DEVEK will not engage in any online forum based discussion regarding any customer related issues. We believe that business is a person to person and thus, a private relationship, and that there are always two sides to every story.

If and when there is a situation, and although we are getting better every day, we are not perfect and situations will continue to occur, there are only four ways to resolve the issue with DEVEK:

· by phone
· by email
· in person
· by fax

By using the above methods to resolve issues, all parties will achieve their goals and the relationship will move forward with mutual benefit.

Unprofessional and threatening behavior will drive the two parties further away from the goal. Unless of course, the goal to cause damage.

Talking to one of our employees and proudly threatening him with the statement that you are "slamming DEVEK" on the web does nothing to help remedy the situation. Nor does copying private emails to a public forum. Private emails are just that - private!

DEVEK

tdelarm

Holy Crap!

Two <img border="0" alt="[thumbsup]" title="" src="graemlins/bigok.gif" /> up for Susan <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />

Mark,

Let me know how you end up liking the pan and how it fits because in all seriousness, I do need to replace my missing pan and although we have different years…I’m sure the construction material is the same and attention to detail for a tight fit would be approached the same.

Cheers bud! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Susan…Hope the weather is'nt half as crappy up North as it is here in smoggy LA. Sharkey's getting parked

Tim Delarm
<img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />

Mark

WHOA THERE MARC@DEVEK -

You guys are really taking this all wrong. I thought I was doing you a favor by posting Susan's email - showing that DEVEK was indeed making things right. Trying to renew confidence in one of our few sponsors!

Now - as to "Talking to one of our employees and proudly threatening him with the statement that you are "slamming DEVEK" on the web does nothing to help remedy the situation" - My EXACT words to George were - "I am surprised you hadn't contacted me after I kinda slammed you on RENNLIST"

Marc - I think the part of your post that bothers me the most: "If and when there is a situation, and although we are getting better every day, we are not perfect and situations will continue to occur, there are only four ways to resolve the issue with DEVEK:

· by phone
· by email
· in person
· by fax"

Exactly HOW MANY phone calls and emails should I have to make/send before frustration sets in??? I can count at minimum 4 phone calls - all on MY dime, and about twice as many emails. Living 3000+ ,miles from you makes it difficult to deal in person, and fax....well...

Look - you guys just took this the wrong way for some reason...let's "Kiss and make up" - OK!

Face it - 928 owners need you and YOU need 928 owners!

SL8GT

Tim,

I have the DEVEK belly pan on my car ('89GT). My opinion is that the product is very well designed with excellent fit/finish. Don't know the exact gauge, but it's pretty thick aluminum.

Brent 89-GT

I am glad people are not afraid to post experiences with suppliers on the web. That is a big help in a small (928)community like this.

I personally do not see why it should take more than ONE phone call, or ONE email to get a question answered. When it is a problem with a product somebody has purchased from your business, you should be jumping up and down to correct the situation (fairly). That is just good business.

I assure you, the two big competitors of DEVEK respond to my needs very quickly. One email to DEVEK recieved no reply. Why should I, as the customer, bother to hound someone trying to make money off of me?

Not trying to burn bridges here but service is very important. A "cocky"attitude will do nothing to bring customers to you.

Ell

People,
Please do not hold your breath waiting on a response from Devek, they along with the other suppliers are more professional then that. I believe that if you read the info for new members you will see a comment about slamming individuals and companies.
Mark if you were so upset about the service and in need of the instructions, then you should have called and not sat by the phone all day waiting for them to call. Instead wasting the energy on all of the negative comments made here, you could have made the phone call this morning and had the instructions.
Again, I do support all three suppliers because they will each have a better deal on one item or another. They each have great tech support and provide a great amount of support technically to subscribers on this board. Slamming them only keeps them away from helping others on this board.

Ell
Enjoy the beer

bcdavis

I think the deal is that they are small places, run by a few individuals, and we expect them to respond like the Porsche dealership, or like some huge company like JC Whitney, with a customer service department, etc...

This goes for most of these vendors.
Whether it's a 928 shop or a 928 vendor, they often have really nice catalogs, and nice webpages, etc, but they are, in actuality, just a small group of people trying to provide products for *us*. Which no one else provides...

It's all about competition. We do not buy enough products to make these places rich. So they cannot afford all the infrastructure and manpower to keep a lot of product in stock, people on the phones, etc...

I agree it would be "nice" if they were all more prompt, more professional, etc... But overall, the "Big 3" tend to make quality products. And we would not have access to these parts at all, if they did not choose to be in business. We'd have to have them made ourselves, at a much higher cost. Same goes for 928 repair shops. If they are specialized in just 928s, they may get backlogged. Yet if they were not around, you would have to go to the dealer, or some shady 911 mechanic. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Anyhow, my point is that you do have a legitimate complaint...

But there are extinuating circumstances, and we ought to be happy for what we have, instead of complaining so much. It is good to let them know you are not happy. Hopefully they will make efforts to improve their speed and their response time.

But appreciate the services they provide...

And, in the spirit of competition, if they take too long, go somewhere else...

If someone else has an aluminum belly pan, order it from them...

But if they are the only ones making them, you have to take what you can get...

Jimbo

I would be upset if I had made multiple phone calls and sent multiple emails and still hadn't received the brackets and instructions.

I think Mark deserves a $20 credit on a future order.

Mark

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Ell:
<strong>People,
Please do not hold your breath waiting on a response from Devek, they along with the other suppliers are more professional then that. I believe that if you read the info for new members you will see a comment about slamming individuals and companies.
Mark if you were so upset about the service and in need of the instructions, then you should have called and not sat by the phone all day waiting for them to call. Instead wasting the energy on all of the negative comments made here, you could have made the phone call this morning and had the instructions.

Enjoy the beer</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Ell -
1-Go back and read my original post...at NO time did I "SLAM" them. IN FACT - I gave them the benefit of the doubt when I posted "I hope this is NOT the way Devek typically does business, and maybe this one instance just 'fell thru the cracks'."

2 - I did not sit back. I made a number of calls and emails over a three week period - to no avail!

3 - I complimented the product: "To others interested - this DOES seem like a well made pan. I got the front 'adapter' on - and it is already protecting things - also stiffens the front spoiler."

4 - I'm not sure why Marc got so bent out of shape when I posted the mail I rec'd from them indicating that they were IN FACT taking care of the problem.

5 - With 1 exception - I think you will find that my posts were light and contained humor.

6 - Lastly - In my reply to Marc, I ended with:
"Face it - 928 owners need you and YOU need 928 owners!"

Not sure how I could have been any fairer or straight about the situation.

Max

LOL, Mark (Pen, FL), if you had only known!

Ok guys time to fess up!

How many of you guys (&gals) have called DEVEK with a problem that took a long time on the phone to get the problem solved? Like most of the other "Big 3" these guys (DEVEK) will stall on the line for as long as it takes to help you out and get it right the first time.

Ok I’ll admit it! I for one have been in dyer need of help and tide up the DEVEK phone discussing some of my problems with Susan for way over 30 minutes than some others with Jim for another 15 minutes or more and then others with Marc for another 30 minutes or more. During which I can here the same thing (phone call trouble shooting) going on one or more of the other lines, so I know I’m not the only one getting helpful hints, tricks and fixes over the phone from the DEVEK team. Every time I read a post about how hard it is to get a hold of someone at DEVEK I start to fell a little guilty that maybe in some small way I helped create this problem, don’t fret the guilt passes quickly.

I have no secret phone number or password that puts my call through any fast than anyone else, I at times get the pre-recorded message that everyone else get when all the phone lines are ring off the hook (or out to lunch). I just hang up and call back a few more time until I do get though.

Yes there were times that I needed to get through ASAP and didn’t! Yes I was a little upset (needlessly)! But then I think about all the times I had been a line hog when someone else was most likely needing to get thought and that feeling too passes quickly.

Tdelarm sorry don’t see your cap lying around anywhere! You must of left it at the cat house.

Would someone be nice enough to drop off a bottle of crown on your way to Brian G's?

ViribusUnits

I don't know bcdavis. For some reason I usualy expect to get the run around by a large company, but expect a small one to be much better in the service department.

See, when I called the fairly large Houston dealership, I expect to get hannded of to someone, who will hand me of to someone else, who will hand me of to a BMW tech, who will hand me off to another person that has the same job discription as the first person I called. I've come to expect that from them. That is why I got mad, and won't talk to them anymore. Petty on my part, but they also flat told me they don't work on a 83 928S. I've got no need for them, thank you very much. I don't deal with many dealerships simply because of the run around.

When I call a smaller place, I don't expect to get hannded off. The one sales person does everything. Thus the one sales person has the control over everything. I expect that person to note down what I need, conform the order back to me, and then get it when they say. Shipping snafus aside, I expect that person to deal with my order, from takeing it over the phone, to putting it on the UPS truck. Thus I expect them to match the items in the box to the items I order. I expect the customer service to be much better. I expect them to send me what I ask for, when they say they'll send it, and thats that.

I don't see how you could expect more screw ups from a smaller orgnization. They should be better.

Note, I've never delt with Devek. They don't have a 1-800 number. Since the prices are fairly similer, and I'd have to use a phone card to make the call, I use the one with the 1-800 number. As soon as I need Devek's unique services, or Devek gets a 1-800 number, I'll be more than happy to comparason shop. Same with 928 specilists. As you can tell, I like 1-800 numbers!

The above is what I expect from whomever I order parts from. Wither it's Bap/Geon in Houston, the Car Quest franchize at home, or 928 intl in CA, thats what I expect.

Why would you expect less from a smaller orgnization?

Max

VB, sorry I didn't mean to imply I was getting handed off. Many times I have four of five questions that each one of the DEVEK team has an area of expertise in. I will look into rewording my post so not to confuse others down the line. Thanks for pointing that out.

Nicole

I think we all need to be aware that private emails never really are. Once you hit the "send" button, you have no control over what happens with it. I tell my students never to send an email that they would not want to be used in court as evidence. There are situations where the good old phone is at an advantage...

<img border="0" alt="[offtopic]" title="" src="graemlins/offtopic.gif" />
I used to administer an email system in a midsized company. Guess what kind of video clips our president sent to his friends! Well, I would have never found out, had these video clips not held up transfer of more important business mail. After explaining to him, he did it again. No, we did not get the funds approved for a faster connection. He was the president. As we know, presidents can do anything, including being stupid. He didn't last very long...

Now, please, let's put this thread to rest, OK?